Philippine Travel Notes

Another fairly new (to me) restaurant at the Tacloban Astrodome. Friday night, I arrived late in Tacloban from hinter-mountain-barangays of Burauen. I wanted a sea view dinner , to rest my eyes & soul from depressing scenes of the day. Driver said "challenge accepted" - as if I did not know, he was heading to Cafe Lucia hahaha! Alas di malas, it was full to every corner, me birthdayhan pang nagaganap! We ambled forward, rounding the Astrodome although we already knew every place would also be packed with diners - on a Friday night kaka-sweldo lang two days ago! Both driver and I prefer bars or restaurants facing Cancabato Bay for the views, and we usually park in front of the Samgyupsal place that we never visit - it's always full ! But, voila! A big group of young-and-old folks were just about leaving the restaurant beside Samgyeopsalicious. Driver even ran to grab one of their outside tables haha! I may be prone to forgetting this-and-that from-time-t...

Feast of the 3 Kings caught me in Tacloban, with nothing to do tomorrow, whatever the reason was! So, me, a friend and my driver went to Astrodome for dinner & beer! Found this "new" place (that we knew was named something else before). Ah these restaurants & bars around Astrodome keep coming and going - since after Yolanda! This one is now named burp! with an exclamation. And we said let's try it! First attraction: their menu is not an "album". It's just a single page, and we liked it! Oh yes, there are people who don't like the 'complication' of so many choices. Kami! That chicken thing tasted 'standard', but the sauce was fantastic. Plus, I had this! Ribs w/ a sauce fit for Pinoys ( not too sour ). Driver had that too and agrees with me. My friend had pork belly and said it tasted good. I tried it, oo nga, malambot din! Proof? They asked for an "extra rice" each! Ako? di na kinaya, malaki yung kanin! We...

New Year's Eve Party waiting in Bangkok. Let's go! But and well, as usual, let's do this blow-by-blow, starting from when I left Ibis Hotel in Vientiane, all the way to when I arrived at Holiday Inn Silom in Bangkok . Blog series uli! Bye Nam Phou! I left the hotel at 1156H going to the airport. Eyes wide open and alert for the views, because I didn't have much time to roam this city, being here for less than 24 hours! My flight was 1430H, was I early or late? Just enough! Besides, hotel check-out time nowadays is 1200H right? Aw, Ibis gave me a free hotel-to-airport transfer at 1200H. Go! Black Stupa Historical attraction spotted - that's the Black Stupa or T h at Dam. Unfortuantely, we were turning left (westward direction) at this corner, for this is the way to the airport. Mind you, that's only about 2 blocks away (around ~500 meters) from Ibis Hotel, but my early morning walk wasn't in that (northward) direction. I went happily ...

Let's start the walk with this park where the country's KM0 marker is located. Its as if I started my walk here since this was just beside my hotel. Well, I glanced at it when I went out this morning. But photos you'll see were my takes from last night. Anyway.., It is a 'circular park' with a fountain in the middle. It is not big, probably just as wide as Remedios Circle along Adriatico St. in Malate (sakaling alam nyo pa yun hehehe) . This isn't mala- Luneta or ala- Rizal Monument, but as you can see in this picture, it is the country's " Kilometer Zero Marker ", established by French colonizers of long ago. The area is a 'central square' (na bilog hehe) ringed by restaurants, bars, hotels, etc., Ideally middle-of-town. In two of these many photos, you'll even be able to spot, that where I stayed for the night (Ibis Hotel) is a few steps away from this 'public plaza'. And by the way, it's not all 'est...

Dandering ? Aw, let me use that as a synonym of ' drifting ', ' gallivanting ', ' wandering '! Roaming without an itinerary - all left to 'chances', by breaking away from my group! For that is what happened here hehe! Yep, I didn't really come to this place to tour-around, as I usually do. I joined a group of friends for a benevolent Christmas Day Program - but, with an itch to look beyond ! Shhh, huwag na maingay. Silip-silip lang naman ang ginawa ko! Not a bad idea, right? Aw, I stuck with our scheduled activities 100%. But there were chances - like during lunch breaks, I'd sneak away to look around and/or shoot pics! That said, everything I will tell you, were most likely unplanned or unintended. As we say in Tagalog: kung ano lang ang nakita, natagpuan, naranasan. In short: whatever! This gave me a different kind of thrill. So let me tell you about some of them! First, a briefer on the not so obvious things (to many Pinoys) ...